


Lay All Your Love On Me

by shadow_seeker



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Established Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru, F/F, Fluff, Inspired by Mamma Mia! (Movies), Mamma Mia! AU, all the other pride parents are here too, background Gert/Chase, background alex/amy, but the story mainly revolves around the tagged ones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 09:53:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30003072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadow_seeker/pseuds/shadow_seeker
Summary: "Hey, so, you know how I've never met my father?""Uh, yeah," Nico looked curiously at her fiancé."Turns out I actually have two of those."Just like that, Nico's hopes for a quite, peaceful wedding are thrown out the window.OrA deanoru Mamma Mia! inspired AU!
Relationships: Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Lay All Your Love On Me

**Author's Note:**

> I looked it up and Leslie's cannon maiden name is Ellerh, so that's hers and Karolina's last name in this fic. 
> 
> I used google translate to put the word 'runaway' in Greek for the name of the island so if that's incorrect of the wrong translation, please let me know so I can fix it. 
> 
> All chapter titles are from songs used in the Mamma Mia movies. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Karolina woke up uncharacteristically early, easing out of the warm embrace she was nestled in with slow, deliberate movements in an effort to not wake her sleeping fiancé up. Nico grumbled in her sleep as Karolina pulled away so Karolina soothed her by taking a moment to fix the blankets around her and then ducking down to press a kiss to Nico’s forehead. The other woman settled at her touch and Karolina took a moment to simply admire the woman she was lucky enough to call her wife in a little less than three weeks. Pressing another feather-light kiss to Nico’s hairline, Karolina stood from their bed and collected the clothes she had laid out the night before and then stepped into the bathroom to get dressed without waking Nico. Slipping into her loose jean shorts and flowy white shirt, Karolina pulled a pair of sandals on her feet, set half of her hair up in a high ponytail with the rest falling in loose curls around her shoulders, collected her worn and well-loved messenger bag, and was out the door with one last glance at Nico to make sure she was still asleep. 

With at least an hour before sunrise, Karolina moved quietly across the courtyard that separated the staff quarters from the hotel proper, pausing with every shift in the wind to make sure that she wasn’t disturbing anyone. While her mission wasn’t exactly a secret, it also wasn’t something that she wanted to broadcast and no matter how many times she swore her friends to secrecy about anything, her mother always ended up finding out somehow. She figured out that Karolina was going to propose before Karolina had even gotten the ring and at that point the only person Karolina had told was Chase (who told Gert, who told Molly, who told Alex, who told Amy-honestly it’s a miracle that Karolina was able to surprise Nico at all). Karolina hadn’t told anyone what she was about to do, not even Nico, because she didn’t want it to get back to her mother. 

Karolina loved her mother, she really did. Leslie had done so much, given up so much for Karolina to have a stable childhood. What had started as a passion project for Leslie had soon become her only means of providing a good life for her daughter. The Pride Resort was now, and had been for quite some time, flourishing under the care of Leslie Ellerh. Karolina had vague memories of the resort being little more than a rundown hotel, but with good marketing and dedication, Leslie had transformed the place and was now able to provide work and benefits for most of the inhabitants of the island that Karolina had called home for her whole life, just off the coast of Greece. Karolina had been five years old when a couple of big-shot investors had come calling and offered to support Leslie in efforts with the resort. Those investors had fallen as in love with Drapéto just as much as Leslie had and had soon moved there with their children. That was when Karolina met Nico, and the others of course, but Nico had always been Karolina’s favorite. 

That was also the first time Karolina was consciously aware of noticing that her family was different than that of her friends. Most of the other families had come to the island in units of three, mother, father, and child. Nico’s family had been the exception, because of Nico’s older sister Amy, and then The Yorke’s family had come a little while later after the adoption of Molly, Gert’s little sister, came through. Karolina’s family was smaller, just her and her mother. It had never bothered her before, and it still didn’t really, but she was only human and it was human nature to be curious. Karolina couldn’t help but wonder if she was missing out on something by not having a father. 

She hadn’t voiced this question to anyone because she didn’t think that anyone would understand. Karolina had plenty of father figures in her life, from her future father-in-law who she loved to Chase's father Victor who she really couldn’t stand even on her best day. But having a father figure was different than having an actual father and that’s the part that Karolina didn’t think anyone would understand. Karolina saw how all of her friend’s relationships with their fathers were different. Chase was always desperate for his father’s approval, which Victor always seemed hesitant to give. Gert and Molly were both fond of their father but exasperated by his antics. Alex was his father’s pride and joy and everyone on Drapéto knew that. Amy, while closer to her mother, had the same easy, comfortable relationship with her father that Nico did. Karolina had watched all of these dynamics growing up and couldn’t help but wonder how her relationship with her own father compared. 

Feeling like she was missing something in her life, Karolina had set out on the first part of her mission: figuring out who her father was. If she had a name, she couldn’t contact him and maybe get him to the island. She had been digging around in a box at the back of her mother’s closet when she found the journal Leslie had kept the year she was pregnant with Karolina. A quick read through of the journal had given Karolina enough of a reason to not be able to look her mother in the eyes for a few days - not without feeling like she should wash her eyes out first, anyway - but it had also produced something that Karolina could work with. Two something actually. Two names. 

Frank Dean and Jonah Majesdan. 

Two men that Leslie had slept with before finding out that she was pregnant. Two men who could possibly be Karolina’s father. 

Having two names instead of one throws an unexpected wrench in Karolina’s plans, but Karolina is nothing if not consistent. She had planned all of this out already, and realistically her plans wouldn’t change all that much with two names instead of one. The postage would be a little more expensive, but that’s about it. After two quick Google searches to find an address she could use for both of her prospective fathers, Karolina had taken two of the unused wedding invitations and filled them out. Now, under the protection of night and knowing that she had at least another half-hour before anyone would be waking up, Karolina could make her way to the docks and send the invitations off without having to answer a million questions about what she was doing. 

After spending the last twenty years on the island, Karolina could navigate it easily in the dark and the walk to the docks passed quickly. Making sure the stamps were in place and double checking that she had the correct addresses on both envelopes, Karolina dropped them into the receptacle and made her way back up the short climb to the resort. 

Stopping back in the room she shared with Nico, Karolina changed into a pair of running shorts and a tank top, making sure she had her phone and a set of headphones with her. Feeling anxious about what she had done and knowing she needed to expel some of this nervous energy, after a quick check on Nico, Karolina left their room again to go for a run around the island. Settling into the easy pace she often used when running with Chase, Karolina let the music play in her ears and wondered what it would be like if she got to have her father walk her down the aisle. 

**__**

“Hey, there you are,” Nico greeted Karolina when she walked into the kitchen an hour and a half later. Karolina was red faced and sweaty, the tank top she’d been wearing now wrapped around her shoulders like a towel and leaving her toned abdomen on display. Chase was with her, also dripping in sweat, and he waved at Nico in greeting as Karolina walked over to her fiancé. “I missed you this morning.” 

“Sorry,” Karolina stopped a little further away from Nico than she normally would, mindful of the sweat covering her body. “I woke up early and went for a run before Chase joined me to work out.” 

That, at least, wasn’t a lie even if it wasn’t the whole truth. Karolina didn’t like lying to Nico about anything, but contented herself by promising to tell Nico everything as soon as there was actually something to tell. 

“No wonder you’re extra sweaty,” Nico closed the distance between them and settled her hands on Karolina’s bare waist, squeezing softly as she lifted onto her toes to claim the kiss she normally got as soon as she woke up. 

“Nico,” Karolina mumbled against her lips. “I need a shower, and breakfast.” 

“Yeah, you really do,” Nico scrunched up her nose dramatically as she lowered herself back down onto her feet from their kiss. Karolina rolled her eyes, balled her sweat covered shirt in her hands and threw it into Nico’s face as the shorter woman began walking away. Nico laughed and tossed the shirt back as she made her way over to the stove. “Seriously, go shower. I’ll get your breakfast ready for you.” 

“Thanks baby,” Karolina followed Nico to the stove and kissed her again, short and sweet. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too, stinky,” Nico groaned playfully as Karolina wrapped her sweaty body around her from behind, squirming in the hold in an attempt to not be covered in Karolina’s sweat. “Go, or your breakfast will be a raw egg in a bowl.” 

“I’m going, I’m going,” Karolina dropped a kiss to the top of Nico’s head and then let her go, collecting Chase from where he’d been talking with Gert and Molly. Karolina said hello to both of them, promised that Chase would smell better when they got back, and herded Chase to his own room. They passed Alex and Amy as they walked back to the staff quarters, who promised them both to make sure breakfast was still warm when they got back to the kitchen. 

As Karolina climbed into the shower, her mind wandered back to the secret mission she completed that morning. While calling it a secret mission felt silly, Karolina decided that it would remain a secret at least until she heard back from one, or both, of her prospective father’s. They were still waiting on a few RSVP’s from friends that had left the island over the years, so it won’t seem odd if their expected numbers for the wedding climbs up a little bit in the next week or so. She’s not that worried about that really happening. What are the chances that two strangers are going to accept a wedding invitation from someone that they’ve never even heard of? 

And if they do both respond, well, Karolina will cross that bridge when she comes to it. She figures it’ll be instinctual, knowing which man is actually her father. It’ll be like when she and Nico finally started dating, a sense of rightness that settles deep in her chest and let’s Karolina know that this is always how things were meant to be. When she sees her father, she’ll just know. 

Won’t she?’ 

Shaking off thoughts of prospective fathers, Karolina dries and dresses again, dimly aware that this is already her third outfit change of the day and that seems a little ridiculous, before she makes her way out of her and Nico’s room again. The kitchen is no less crowded than it had been before but again Karolina makes a beeline directly for her fiance. Nico looks up when someone pulls on the chair she was saving only to smile as Karolina sits down beside her. 

“Hey,” Nico greets softly, pushing the plate of food she had ready in Karolina’s direction and leaning close to her, inhaling the sweet, clean scent of the love of her life. “Your mom was here a minute ago, something about the color scheme for the reception.” 

“Do we have a color scheme for the reception?” Karolina asked, one hand settling on Nico’s thigh and the other picking up her fork to eat. 

“We barely have a color scheme for the ceremony, so probably not.” Nico shrugs, moves her chair closer to Karolina’s, and settles her head on Karolina’s shoulder. 

“Can you guys wait until after the wedding to be sickeningly cute?” Gert complains from her seat across from Karolina where she’s watching the couple with an amused smirk. 

“When are they not sickeningly cute?” Molly asked, barely looking up from the waffle on her plate. Molly was the youngest of the friend group and currently the only single one, though Karolina had it on good authority that Molly had been having secret meetings with one of the local island girls named Klara. As the youngest and only single member of their group, Molly had no issue teasing all of them about their respective relationships. “They’ve been like that since before they started dating.” 

“That doesn’t mean they have to flaunt it,” Gert countered. Molly snorted a laugh. 

“As if you and Chase are any better.” 

“She’s got you there, Gert,” Nico agreed, settling more fully against Karolina’s side. Gert very maturely stuck her tongue out at Nico and the group dissolved into an easy laughter born from having spent countless mornings exactly like this. It was a by-product of all of them doing everything together growing up, from schooling to meals to literally everything else they did as children, but one that Karolina was happy to have. Their friendships may have been born out of proximity, but their connections were genuine and Karolina wouldn’t trade them for anything. 

“And no, you don’t have a color scheme for the reception,” Amy piped up from Nico’s other side. As her sister’s maid of honor, Amy was more on top of the wedding planning than either Karolin and Nico were. Nico often joked that Amy was more excited for the wedding than the actual brides, to which Amy normally responded that Nico could be a little more excited. Karolina always melted when Nico said that she was excited for the wedding, she was just more excited for the life they would live together after the ceremony. 

“I didn’t think so,” Karolina nodded and shoveled the last of her food into her mouth. “But you know my mom and her attention to detail. She’ll want us to have something.” 

“Shouldn’t it be the same as the ceremony?” Nico questioned. They’d gone with a light pink and a soft lilac for accent colors, both of them sticking to the traditional white for their dresses. Though they had opted for more of a sundress style than a traditional wedding dress since they did live on an island, afterall. 

“It can be,” Amy shrugged. “I think she’s just focusing on the little things so she doesn’t have to think about her baby girl growing up and leaving home.” 

“It’s like we’re moving,” Karolina rolled her eyes. 

“I mean, we are actually,” Nico pointed up, turning her head slightly to look at Karolina’s face. 

“Yeah, but not off the island. We’ll still be around, just not right down the hall.” 

They had decided to move out of the staff housing, even though the technically didn’t have to live there in the first place because all of them had their own rooms on reserve at the hotel. But there was an old farmhouse about a ten minute walk from the resort itself that Karolina and Nico had discovered when they were kids. It used to be their private getaway from the hotel when they wanted time for just the two of them. Karolina had proposed to Nico there and as an early wedding present, Nico’s parents had bought the lot where the farmhouse was and gifted it to the two of them. The house was now being renovated so it wouldn’t collapse on them when they finally moved in. 

“Yeah, but all of our parents are kind of being weird about this,” Alex pointed out. “My mom keeps asking me if I know Amy’s ring size and talkin about empty lots around the island.” 

“Do you know my ring size?” Amy asked her boyfriend curiously. 

“Of course I do, but we talked about this and decided that we’re not ready for marriage yet. Not all of us can have everything figured out as easily as Nico and Karolina.” 

“You mean you spent so long mooning over Nico that you two didn’t get together as long ago as they did,” Chase joked. Alex’s crush on Nico had been doomed from the beginning as everyone except for Alex had known that he was projecting his feelings for Amy onto Nico because he didn’t think Amy would want him in that way. It was kind of funny the way he would stare at Amy longingly only to suddenly remember that he was staring at the wrong sister. 

“I’m not the only one who was mooning over one of them,” Alex reminded Chase, who’s cheeks flamed at the reminder. Chase’s crush on Karolina had been much more of a disaster than Alex’s crush on Nico, and had ended very badly when he planted a kiss on an unsuspecting Karolina. In his defense, Karolina had been talking about how much she liked someone, Chase just didn’t figure out that she was talking about someone other than him. It was unfortunate that the whole thing had been witnessed by Gert and Nico, the first of whom ran away before Karolina had managed to push Chase off of her and explain and the latter of whom was lucky that Karolina was so good at calming her down. Otherwise, Chase and Nico’s friendship would have ended right then and there. 

“Yeah okay, we all have a complicated history with one another,” Gert broke the tension for them, amused at Chase’s embarrassed grin. “But back to the point of our parents being weird.” 

“They’ve just realized that Karolina and I are the first of us to get married, but that the rest of you probably aren’t far behind.” Nico smiled as Karolina’s arms wrapped around her fully now that she was done eating. Feeling the arms around her flex, Nico moved easily as Karolina lifted her up slightly and settled her in her lap. Draping her arm over Karolina’s shoulders, Nico observed the rest of their friends. 

All of them, except for Molly, were very seriously not looking at their partner. Nico found it endlessly amusing that her friends were so hesitant to admit that they were planning to spend forever with their respective partners. Sure, she and Karolina were the first to get there, but she had no doubt that Chase and Gert, and Alex and Amy, weren’t far behind. Everyone thought Alex and Amy would be the next to tie the knot but Nico thought that Chase was just impulsive enough to surprise them all sooner rather than later. 

“For people who have been dating forever, you guys are really weird about the idea of actually spending forever together,” Molly rolled her eyes and stood from her seat, carrying her plate and fork to the sink. “I’m going to work.” 

“Tell Klara I said hi,” Karolina called out, laughing as Molly flipped her the bird without turning around. 

“Who’s Klara?” Gert asked. Karolina shrugged. 

“Ask your sister.” Karolina squeezed Nico around the waist. “I should go check with my mom. I’ll see you at lunch?” 

“Of course,” Nico leaned down to connect their lips, tangling her fingers in Karolina’s loose blonde hair. “Call if you need me.” 

“Love you,” Karolina kissed her again and then let go of her waist so Nico could stand up. 

“Love you, too,” Nico unwrapped her arm from around Karolina’s shoulder and stood up, letting her fiancé get up and head out as well. 

  
  



End file.
